Sales Navigator’s Search: What is it and What Filters to Use
One of the questions I’m frequently asked when discussing winning new business on LinkedIn is about Sales Navigator. Sales Navigator offers many features that are incredibly valuable, but its best-known and used feature is its advanced search capabilities, and how do I find XXXXXX target audience is the follow-up question.
Today I’m going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the search with an example search question I received recently.
Sales Navigator’s Advanced Search Capabilities
The search on Sales Navigator is broken down into Accounts and Leads searches. The Account search enables you to find the companies you want to target, and the leads search enables you to find the people at these companies.
You can also use the leads search on its own to find people in certain positions. In every single lead search, the search filter ‘Current job title’ will be added. If it isn’t added, you will be targeting everyone!
Account Search Filters
These are the search filters from my Sales Navigator Advanced account. Core is the entry level account doesn’t have the ‘Buyer intent’ filter.
The ‘Accounts filters’ search is used for finding companies. Use the filters to help you find the ‘best’ companies to target. Think about which filters are best to almost pre-qualify them as an opportunity. Here’s a run through of some of the main ones:
You can find companies based on their size through either their Annual revenue (turnover) or Company headcount (no. of employees). This can be very useful for those who work with large companies or have an ideal size of company they work with.
Headquarters location and Industry are other search filters that many will be aware of. It should be noted that there are now 434 different industries to choose from. There used to be 149 until reasonably recently, so now you can get super granular.
Some of the filters that may not be as well-known and used:
Department headcount and Department headcount growth: Knowing what size a department is and whether it’s growing or shrinking can present opportunities. For example, your service may fill a gap in a small or shrinking department.
Technologies used: If you offer complementary services to, or specialise in, the technologies in the list then this can be an amazing way to identify companies who should be interested in what you offer.
Recent activities – Senior leadership changes in the last 3/12 months: When there is a change in leadership there can be a change in direction/suppliers.
Job opportunities: similarly to department headcount growth, this indicates companies that are hiring and may be growing, so one way to identify companies where there may be an opportunity.
Buyer intent: This filter will show you companies that have ‘Moderate or high intent’. This can be used to quickly find companies that are interested in you.
Account lists: Adding companies to lists is a great way to organise them. Once in lists they can be included or excluded from the ‘Account filters’ and ‘Lead filters’ searches.
Lead Search Filters
These are the search filters from my Sales Navigator Advanced account. Core is the entry level account and doesn’t have ‘Account has buyer intent’, Category intent or Teamlink connections of.
Finding the ‘best’ people to focus on within your existing network (1st connections) and finding your ‘best’ future network (2nd and 3rd+ connections) is critical. The more time and effort you put into this will pay dividends over time. Increasing the % of the ‘best’ people in your search to get super targeted and niche right down will increase your relevancy and the likely returns you will gain from your time and efforts. Let’s look at some of the main filters.
Current Job Title: Identifying the job titles of the key stakeholders is critical to your success on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator. Think about who the person is that is emotionally invested in the success of your product or services. These are the ‘best’ people to reach out to as they have the most to gain (or lose). Unlike the LinkedIn.com search, you can add or exclude many job titles, and add long Boolean searches to help you get super specific.
Geography: Which locations you target can be crucial. Generally, the people most likely to work with you are local to you. Within the ‘Geography’ filter, there’s the ability to add locations, add regions or be very specific via a postal code (zip code) and within an area radius of that postal code, which enables you to find very local people to target.
Industry: There are 434 industries to choose from, enabling users to get very niche.
Company Headcount: Company headcount has filters starting from Self Employed, to 1 -10, all the way up to 10,000+. So, if there is a particular company size that is your sweet spot, this filter will help you to zone in on the right size of opportunities.
Persona: this can be used to pull in a persona you have set up. This can be made up of Function, Seniority level, Current job title and geography. This can help you set up a search more quickly, but be mindful that the Current job title filter does not enable you to add a Boolean search, which may be necessary for you to find your ideal contacts.
Account & Lead Lists: the ability to include or exclude account and leads list in your search helps you to focus on which companies and which people you want to focus your efforts on and whom you want to ensure you exclude.
‘Buyer intent’, ‘Best Path in’ and ‘Recent updates’ Sections: these sections provide you with the ability to use the search to find those contacts en masse with whom you can start conversations based on the insights gained from these filters.
Saved Searches
Another valuable aspect of the search feature on Sales Navigator is the ability to save searches and set up alerts. Once you have set up your searches, you can save this search to avoid re-entering the criteria every time. Additionally, you can set up alerts to receive notifications when new prospects enter the search, keeping you alerted of new potential clients.
Recent Search Example Request
I recently got asked: “how do I find Business Owners in the 500k to 2m T/O bracket” This is very easy to find this audience:
1. Account search: 500k to 2m T/O bracket
Not quite 2 million bracket, but need to go with the closest filters.
NB Should add additional filters, location, industry, etc as well as any sales intelligence you have.
2. Account list: Save the resultant companies
Once you have the list of companies, save them in an account list, so you can include this list in the Lead search.
3. Lead search: Business Owners
NB As with Account search, should add additional filters, as well as any sales intelligence you have.
In Summary
For those looking to win new business on LinkedIn, Sales Navigator will save you time and generate better results. But, you need to learn the functionality it brings, which includes using the search in the most effective way possible.
Who are you looking to target and can you see how you would best find them using Sales Navigator?
If not, let me know and I’d be happy to help out and talk you through more of the benefits of using Sales Navigator.
Sales Navigator’s Search: What is it and What Filters to Use
Sales Navigator’s Search: What is it and What Filters to Use
One of the questions I’m frequently asked when discussing winning new business on LinkedIn is about Sales Navigator. Sales Navigator offers many features that are incredibly valuable, but its best-known and used feature is its advanced search capabilities, and how do I find XXXXXX target audience is the follow-up question.
Today I’m going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the search with an example search question I received recently.
Sales Navigator’s Advanced Search Capabilities
The search on Sales Navigator is broken down into Accounts and Leads searches. The Account search enables you to find the companies you want to target, and the leads search enables you to find the people at these companies.
You can also use the leads search on its own to find people in certain positions. In every single lead search, the search filter ‘Current job title’ will be added. If it isn’t added, you will be targeting everyone!
Account Search Filters
The ‘Accounts filters’ search is used for finding companies. Use the filters to help you find the ‘best’ companies to target. Think about which filters are best to almost pre-qualify them as an opportunity. Here’s a run through of some of the main ones:
You can find companies based on their size through either their Annual revenue (turnover) or Company headcount (no. of employees). This can be very useful for those who work with large companies or have an ideal size of company they work with.
Headquarters location and Industry are other search filters that many will be aware of. It should be noted that there are now 434 different industries to choose from. There used to be 149 until reasonably recently, so now you can get super granular.
Some of the filters that may not be as well-known and used:
Department headcount and Department headcount growth: Knowing what size a department is and whether it’s growing or shrinking can present opportunities. For example, your service may fill a gap in a small or shrinking department.
Technologies used: If you offer complementary services to, or specialise in, the technologies in the list then this can be an amazing way to identify companies who should be interested in what you offer.
Recent activities – Senior leadership changes in the last 3/12 months: When there is a change in leadership there can be a change in direction/suppliers.
Job opportunities: similarly to department headcount growth, this indicates companies that are hiring and may be growing, so one way to identify companies where there may be an opportunity.
Buyer intent: This filter will show you companies that have ‘Moderate or high intent’. This can be used to quickly find companies that are interested in you.
Account lists: Adding companies to lists is a great way to organise them. Once in lists they can be included or excluded from the ‘Account filters’ and ‘Lead filters’ searches.
Lead Search Filters
Finding the ‘best’ people to focus on within your existing network (1st connections) and finding your ‘best’ future network (2nd and 3rd+ connections) is critical. The more time and effort you put into this will pay dividends over time. Increasing the % of the ‘best’ people in your search to get super targeted and niche right down will increase your relevancy and the likely returns you will gain from your time and efforts. Let’s look at some of the main filters.
Current Job Title: Identifying the job titles of the key stakeholders is critical to your success on LinkedIn and Sales Navigator. Think about who the person is that is emotionally invested in the success of your product or services. These are the ‘best’ people to reach out to as they have the most to gain (or lose). Unlike the LinkedIn.com search, you can add or exclude many job titles, and add long Boolean searches to help you get super specific.
Geography: Which locations you target can be crucial. Generally, the people most likely to work with you are local to you. Within the ‘Geography’ filter, there’s the ability to add locations, add regions or be very specific via a postal code (zip code) and within an area radius of that postal code, which enables you to find very local people to target.
Industry: There are 434 industries to choose from, enabling users to get very niche.
Company Headcount: Company headcount has filters starting from Self Employed, to 1 -10, all the way up to 10,000+. So, if there is a particular company size that is your sweet spot, this filter will help you to zone in on the right size of opportunities.
Persona: this can be used to pull in a persona you have set up. This can be made up of Function, Seniority level, Current job title and geography. This can help you set up a search more quickly, but be mindful that the Current job title filter does not enable you to add a Boolean search, which may be necessary for you to find your ideal contacts.
Account & Lead Lists: the ability to include or exclude account and leads list in your search helps you to focus on which companies and which people you want to focus your efforts on and whom you want to ensure you exclude.
‘Buyer intent’, ‘Best Path in’ and ‘Recent updates’ Sections: these sections provide you with the ability to use the search to find those contacts en masse with whom you can start conversations based on the insights gained from these filters.
Saved Searches
Another valuable aspect of the search feature on Sales Navigator is the ability to save searches and set up alerts. Once you have set up your searches, you can save this search to avoid re-entering the criteria every time. Additionally, you can set up alerts to receive notifications when new prospects enter the search, keeping you alerted of new potential clients.
Recent Search Example Request
I recently got asked: “how do I find Business Owners in the 500k to 2m T/O bracket” This is very easy to find this audience:
1. Account search: 500k to 2m T/O bracket
Not quite 2 million bracket, but need to go with the closest filters.
NB Should add additional filters, location, industry, etc as well as any sales intelligence you have.
2. Account list: Save the resultant companies
Once you have the list of companies, save them in an account list, so you can include this list in the Lead search.
3. Lead search: Business Owners
NB As with Account search, should add additional filters, as well as any sales intelligence you have.
In Summary
For those looking to win new business on LinkedIn, Sales Navigator will save you time and generate better results. But, you need to learn the functionality it brings, which includes using the search in the most effective way possible.
Who are you looking to target and can you see how you would best find them using Sales Navigator?
If not, let me know and I’d be happy to help out and talk you through more of the benefits of using Sales Navigator.
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